Formation lights are used on military aircraft to provide navigational assistance to aircrafts flying in formation. Formation lights can be affixed to exterior surfaces of aircraft. One or more formation lights can emit a light pattern that is oriented with respect to the aircraft. These oriented light patterns emitted by formation lights indicate the orientation of an aircraft illuminated by such lights. The formation lights can be used as indicators of a distance between an observer in an adjacent aircraft and the formation-light indicated aircraft. Military aircraft can not only be flown in formation, but they can take-off and land in formation. Such technical maneuvers, such as take-offs and landings in formation, can be facilitated by well-illuminated formation-lighting systems that indicate each aircraft's position to adjacent aircraft in formation.
Military aircraft can be called upon to perform operations in enemy territories. It can sometimes be advantageous to perform such operations in a stealth manner to minimize the aircraft's exposure to the enemy. Various ways of providing stealth capability to aircraft have been utilized. Stealth technologies include minimizing the visibility of an aircraft, reducing the sound emitted by the aircraft, providing a low-radar-signature airframe, providing a low-thermal-signature airframe, as well as others. These stealth techniques can make it difficult for pilots flying in formation to readily determine an adjacent aircraft's attitude and distance.